This week a glacier high on the Nepal–Tibet border collapsed. A wall of ice, rock, mud, and water tore through the valleys. Villages vanished. Bridges and roads were swept away. Hundreds are confirmed dead with thousands more still unaccounted for—Nepali villagers, pilgrims, trekkers from many nations. Rescue teams are still digging through the mud while two other dammed lakes threaten to give way at any moment.
And he answered them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’”
— Luke 13:2–5
There had been a disaster of a tower falling and killing eighteen. The Pharisees framed it that those who died must have had greater sin to die in such a tragic way. Jesus refused the easy answers. He would not let His hearers treat someone else’s disaster as a scorecard of their sin. He also would not let them treat it as a distant news item. The fallen tower and the slaughtered worshipers were a megaphone: You too will perish. Repent.
That word still stands over the whole world today. REPENT!
What this disaster is not
It is not proof that the people of Nepal are greater sinners than us.
It is not evidence that God has lost control. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). He “makes the mountains smoke” when He touches them (Psalm 104:32). Even the collapse of ice and rock happens under the same sovereign hand that numbers the hairs of our heads.
What this disaster is
It is the groaning of creation under the curse of sin. “The whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:22). Glaciers fail. Rivers rage. Earthquakes shake. Volcanoes erupt. Hurricanes destroy. This is the world outside the perfect garden of Eden— broken, and condemned by sin.
The people who died on Wednesday morning did not schedule their deaths. Neither will we. The only safe place when the mountain gives way is not higher ground. It is Christ.
The International Mission Board is already helping those impacted Through their Send Relief Mission. If you would like to give toward these relief efforts and want a reliable safe way to give you may give on Sunday at church. Simply write your check to North Toxaway Baptist Church and put Nepal in the memo line. 100% of your gifts will go directly to the relief.
Prayer Request
I have been diagnosed with pneumonia and I’m sidelined for a few days. Four new prescriptions with strict orders to stay at home. Please keep me in your prayers.
Special Announcement
There is no Manna Truck this morning to unload at the Food Bank. The Food Bank will be open tomorrow from 10-12 Serving those needing assistance.